Another day, another rough outing for the Indians pitching staff. I had to look twice to make sure that the box score was correct when I saw that the Giants scored 10 runs in the top of the eighth. This is the fourth straight game where the Indians pitchers have allowed at least eight runs in a game.

Early in the afternoon, former ATF darling and highly regarded prospect Danny Salazar led the big league club to victory. A success story like Salazar shows exactly why following these prospects is fun: you are getting a glimpse at the major league contributors of tomorrow. A few players were doing their best Salazar impersonations Thursday, including a first baseman at Columbus trying to jumpstart his season and an outfielder rehabbing in Arizona trying to get back. For all this and more, join Jim Piascik as he takes you Around The Farm.

The AZL Indians dropped their third straight game Wednesday night, falling to the AZL Giants by a final tally of 8-2. The AZL Giants improved to 14-2 on the season and demonstrated why they have the best record in the Arizona Rookie League, coming through with clutch hitting and strong pitching throughout the game.

There was no escaping the powerful storms that pushed through Northeast Ohio Wednesday night, as the Mudcats were delayed during their game in Virginia. The Mudcats were in the middle of an offensive outburst when the rains came down and, after the tarp was rolled back up, they continued assaulting the opposition. The Eastern League All-Star game in New Britain, Connecticut was also delayed, though there were fewer fireworks in that game. To read all about the night in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

Tony takes a look at 10 of the hottest hitters in the organization from Double-A Akron to rookie level Arizona – some names you know well and some you don’t. The players are not ranked, but are listed by level and include the likes of Tyler Holt, Jose Ramirez, Joey Wendle, Jeremy Lucas, Dorssys Paulino, Anthony Santander, Logan Vick, Nellie Rodriguez, Clint Frazier and Joel Mejia. He provides insight into what kind of prospect each player is, their upside, their strengths and weaknesses, and some statistical trends as well.

The AZL Indians were flat from the first pitch to the last Monday night, as the visiting AZL Padres took a dominating 11-3 victory. It could have been the 100+ degree heat or the fact that they have played six games in as many days, but the usually energetic and loose AZL Indians were shells of their normal selves. They were out hit 18 to four on the evening and never managed to muster up any sort of fight.

If you take away the third, fourth and fifth innings, the Indians pitching staff threw great in Sunday’s game; however, three awful relief innings by AZL Indians relief pitcher Anthony Vizcaya spelled “doom” for the Tribe, as they got pummeled by the AZL Rangers 8-2.

The weather is not the only thing that is hot in Arizona these days. The relief pitching was strong and everyone around the lineup contributed in a hard-fought, 6-4 victory over the AZL Reds (3-11) on Saturday evening at Goodyear Ballpark.

The AZL Indians extended their win streak to four games on Friday night, cruising by their complex rival AZL Reds by a count of 11-3. The offense propelled the AZL Indians, as Tribe hitters pounded out 13 hits and managed to put together a seven run, two out rally in the third to push the game out of reach early.

A very happy Fourth of July to you! We at IBI hope you had a great holiday and enjoyed a little time off. There was no time off in the minor leagues Thursday, as all of Cleveland's affiliates were in action. Some did a little worse than others (like a pair of four-hit outings in Columbus and Carolina), though there were plenty of good performances, including some impressive pitching and hitting in Lake County. To read all about Thursday in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

A very Happy Fourth of July to all of the IBI readers! What better to celebrate our independence than good food, fireworks, and another edition of Minor Happenings! In today’s abbreviated version of the Happenings on the Indians farm (still over 2300 words), Tony takes a long look at the emerging star that is second baseman Joey Wendle and just how good of a prospect he really is for the Indians. He also provides tons of comments from Ross Atkins on Clint Frazier, Mitch Brown, Kieran Lovegrove, Juan Herrera, and many others.

In what is becoming an uncomfortable theme thus far on the season, the AZL Indians blew another lead in the late innings, but managed to come back and top the AZL Royals by a count of 4-3 Wednesday night at the Indians’ facility in Goodyear. The victory was largely due to the success of Joel and Francisco Mejia, who combined for three of the AZL Indians’ seven hits and three of their four runs on the night.

Sometimes greatness can spoil people. Francisco Lindor could spend almost every night atop Around The Farm, though sometimes we can take his all-around excellence for granted. Lindor is one of the transcendent prospects in the game of baseball and is the kind of talent every team wants in its system. The shortstop was at it again Wednesday night, along with plenty of other players throughout the system. To read all about them, join Jim Piascik as he goes Around The Farm.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the big month that outfielder Carlos Moncrief had and just what kind of prospect he is for the Indians. He also checks in on the progress that right-handed pitcher Dylan Baker is making this season, provides several comments from the front office on players in the upper levels like Bryan Price, Jose Ramirez, Jose Flores, Ronny Rodriguez, Enosil Tejeda and others, and offers up updates and insight into the development of Toru Murata, Shawn Morimando, Juan Romero, Anderson Polanco and more!

Before the calendar flipped to July, the AZL Indians found ways to get locked into some wild contests. Their erratic play continued Tuesday night, as they again went into extra innings against the AZL Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields and came away with a 7-5 win.

The Indians got a sensational performance on the mound on Sunday from Low-A right-handed pitcher Dylan Baker, and he has really strung together some good starts of late. Tony touches on him and many other players that were in action on Sunday from Akron to Arizona.

The AZL Indians treated all who attended their game Friday night in Surprise, Arizona to nine innings of relatively boring baseball. It might have been the 110° desert heat, or possibly that they didn’t have enough gas left in the tank after their 12-11 victory over the AZL Padres on Thursday, but whatever it was, the Indians could not muster up any offense in a 6-1 loss to the Rangers.

In today’s third edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the encouraging performance of short season Single-A Mahoning Valley infielder Claudio Bautista and what kind of prospect he truly is for the Indians. He also provides a ton of quotes and insight from Ross Atkins on several players at Double-A Akron like Ronny Rodriguez, Carlos Moncrief, Austin Adams and others, talks about the changes Will Roberts is working on, the injury to Luigi Rodriguez, and more.

In the midst of a three game slide, the AZL Indians looked to get back in the win column Thursday night against the visiting AZL Padres. The game featured a little bit of everything including home runs, bloopers, wild pitches, and sloppy errors, but the AZL Indians were able to prevail in a wild affair.

A few pitching hiccups at the beginning and end of the AZL Indians’ game proved to be costly, as the Indians fell to the Brewers 9-8 in extra innings Wednesday night at Goodyear Ballpark, and extended the Indians’ losing streak to three games.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!